Small and Medium-sized Business and Its Role in the Russian Market Economy

The article deals with the problems and opportunities of small and medium-sized entrepreneurship in the modern economy of Russia. A comparative analysis of the European and Russian interpretation of the concept of “small and medium business†, the criteria for assessing the effectiveness of small and medium-sized business. However, it should be noted that the study of efficiency belongs to the type of “constantly relevant†, as this economic category reveals the conditions of functioning of the business entity in the market. And the more active the functioning of small businesses, the higher the stability of the country’s economy, the greater the revenues to the state budget and extra-budgetary funds, higher job growth, lower unemployment, a decent level of material security of employees. The article also defines the social and economic problems that can be solved by the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises in the “economy of free enterprise†.